The Estrucans: An Historic Overview

If there was one civilization that has a parallel culture with the Egyptians, it would be the Etruscans. However, in the modern setting, Etruscan is not a place but rather a way of living, a culture itself with peculiarities when it come s to religion.

Even in prehistoric times, this civilization flourished even before the foundation of Rome. The author of the book History of the Etruscans noted that "The Romans called the people who created and maintained this civilization Tusci and Etrusci". However, the Greeks referred to them as Tyrrhenian or Tyrsenians due to their proximity to the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Etruscans however preferred to refer to themselves as Rasenna, which was later modified to Rasna. Historians like Thucydides categorized the Etruscans as "barbarians" which at that time denoted that one is not a Roman citizen. Actually, any group or race that is not of Roman origin is classified as barbarian. The Etruscan confederation has twelve cities that lies stretched towards its borders almost occupying Rome. Nevertheless, the Etruscans were later assimilated to Italic Rome that is why "Tuscans is similar to Italics. The civilization of Etruscans started between the ninth and eighth centuries B.C. as commonly reported in the history books. However, it was only during the 6^th century that this civilization flourished. At the height of its success, the confederations were very strong, almost forming a fraternal relationship with each other. It could not be removed from any human relations that there would be indifference, jealousy and animosity; however, the confederation tried to remain in touch by meeting every year especially when there is an impending threat to security. The meeting was held at Voltumna; thus the assembly was given the name concilium Etruriae. Towards the 6^th century, Etruscan leagues were already formed along Asia Minor. The main character of the league dwelled on religious living, other aspects of administration like politics and military was not given much attention.

It is interesting to note that "Rome's last three kings sprang from the Etruscan ruling dynasty; the mother of the first was a royal Etruscan prophet" (Dillard, 2004). The Etruscans wielded influence and gained absolute power in Rome for more than a hundred years. Rome's walls were built by Etruscans as well as the famous Temple of Jupiter located on a hilltop. Unfortunately, their assimilation to Rome was quite late since at that time Rome's grandeur was declining due to Caesar's death in 44 B.C. Moreover, a prophecy was told about the end of the Etruscan way of life which at the time saw the rise of Hellenic civilization. Greece was very much respected then and cast social, cultural, and political influence in Europe.

Etruscan Religion

It would be unfair to discuss the Etruscan history without describing its religion. At the time of turn of the 6^th century, the primary identifiable marker of their civilization was religion. Their main core of belief revolved around Nature, Fate, and Chance (Conway). An explanation of this would be that the life of Man is enclosed by three powers. The first of which is Nature, meaning that man cannot live beyond 120 years. As for destiny, man is only given 90 years to fulfill the course of his life. The three revolutions of Saturn were correlated to man's destruction unless divine intervention would avert the disaster. Lastly, there is chance that comes from external factors like fire, poison, revolution or anything that can effect change according to Servius. The writer Ogilvie (1960) aptly adapted a quote from Arnobius from the early Christian point of view stating that Eturia in A.D. 300 is "genetrix et mater superstitionis, 'originator and mother of all superstition'". Their work of art manifested their beliefs through works of art in bronze statues that realistically portrayed facial expressions. They are at best in portraying realistic representation of things.

The Heritage of the Etruscans

On studying ancient history, one can remark that the Etruscan culture provided influence on aspects o culture like religion and art. They were versatile as a people, inhabiting Pompeii at one time, and scattering their lineage to Spain later. Their ceramic paintings reached as far as France. Although they had a distinct language through characters that Roman children learned even before Greece history., there is not much evidence that can be directly traced through them Only indirectly from Roman artifacts and relics that one will have a view of Etruscan literature. It is only the Liber Linteus that was preserved to prove their literary works. The Etruscans are mystifying; they share a common penchant with the Egyptians when it comes to the dead. The urns, sarcophagus, afterlife symbols all bespeak of their fascination with life after death. There was no coincidence for the Etruscans; everything was preordained by the stars or planetary conjunctions. One is lucky since one has obtained favor from any of the numerous deities that they worship. Moreover, everything had boundaries, all deities must respect their territories and people should be aware of that. If the Druids had their StoneHhenge, the Etruscans erected stone monuments that graphically portrayed their gods. Bronze statues were unearthed and gave anthropologists an insight of what kind of religion and culture this civilization practice. Somehow, part of their religion metamorphosed into an occult where practices of shamanism can be traced. They also entertained the idea of reincarnation if one's passage in the afterlife is good; there is a possibility of comeback. Looking closely, their religion is hybrid of Hellenistic and Egyptian beliefs which is a probability due to their migration. As a student of ancient history, reading through the past of the Etruscans is interesting and fascinating. One may still wonder what would happen if their culture is preserved in our time.

WORKS CITED

Carpino, Alexandra. The Religion of the Etruscans .The Historian, Vol. 69, 2007.

Conway, R. S. "Italy in the Etruscan Age: The Etruscans. Cambridge Ancient History (Cambridge University Press), Vol. IV, Chapter XII.

Dillard, Annie. Etruscans, Losing Their Edge. American Scholar, Vol. 73, Spring 2004

Vacano, Otto-Wilhelm von, Ogilvie, S., Arnold, E. The Etruscans in the Ancient World., 1960. 198 pgs.